Life at the Tapout House with female MMA fighter Tami Carswell – Are we having fun yet?

Photo by Tracy Lee - Tami and the Tapout House crew out celebrating the night before WEC 45 weigh-ins.

I am back to training harder; working on all the parts of Tami that can be worked on. Greg gave me a training protocol to work my hips on the ground which I am very happy about since I can’t roll around on my shoulder right now.

There was a pumped up feeling around the house this week in which our boy Cowboy has been getting ready for WEC 45 in Vegas this weekend. Cowboy would just break out into random bouncing around saying he couldn’t wait for this fight. It’s been fun to witness his playfulness around fighting. You can see how much fun this is for him.

Unfortunately, for his opponents Cowboy has “Play Time” tattooed on his shins. True Dat!!! At the weigh-ins Cowboy bounced out with all that energy to face Ed Ratcliff who immediately put a smile on Cowboy’s face by saying that he was going to knock him out.
Watching Cowboy up there bouncing and smiling filled me with much anticipation of yet another entertaining fight! When this is your lifestyle it is fun to fight and watch fights, and fights, and fights!

After the weigh ins all of us who live in the Tapout house joined Cowboy as he re-hydrated. Talk about an entourage. A communal life isn’t for everyone but the more the merrier for Cowboy.

I met Cowboy’s grandmother Jerry and grandfather Donald who turn out to be Cowboy’s biggest fans and both fans of my blogs.

Jerry knows more than any of us about MMA. She demonstrated that to us by informing us about many 2009 MMA facts including the fact that Cowboy’s fight with Ben Henderson was voted “Fight of the Year” in the WEC.

Jerry told us that she always cuts weight with Cowboy before the fight by not eating the day before the weigh-ins. “If he complains or is moody about not eating I tell him to cowboy up,” said Jerry.

After he was all hydrated Jerry and Donald took us all to dinner in the hotel. I could see where Cowboy gets his generosity. On the way down, Cowboy said what’s up to Ben Henderson who was shopping. I would love to see another rematch between those two and so would Cowboy. Talk about entertaining fights! Me and my boys at the gym back home rate that fight the best loss of all time.

Photo by Jeff Sherwood / Sherdog - After being penalized two points, Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone did what he had to do to finish off Ed Ratcliff at WEC 45.

After dinner we all went to check out this stereotypical rock cover band named “Steel Panther”. They not only played well, they were hilarious with their comical and typical rock star portrayals. We all had a blast including Cowboy who got on stage, sang with them, and peeled off his shirt. We all hung out with the band for a bit afterward and Cowboy took photos with fans. That was only the pre-fight celebration.

The next day we all headed out to the fight and like I told Cowboy in a text, he fucking rocked our worlds. Cowboy looked back to his corner in the middle of it and asked “Are we having fun yet?” Hell yeah we were!

Yes, we were having fun with two points took away for unintentional low knees (for which Cowboy apologized to Ed’s mom during the fight), crazy leg attacks and a triangle attempt at the same time madness, constant stalking of his opponent, thunderous kicks, high knees, and eventually a rear naked choke to end it all.

All of us there and any other Cowboy fan out there were hypnotized by the ups and downs/twists and turns of the ride we were on. Grandma told Herb Dean that he was a fair ref and that he was also the reason that Cowboy had won.

With two points down he was either going to knock him out or choke him out, no doubt.

His opponent was limping to the press conference after the fight from all the kicks he ate for dinner. Cowboy, on the other hand, was energized and ready to go celebrate.

What an excellent host indeed was Cowboy meeting and greeting fans, taking his whole crew to his V.I.P. after party, and making sure everyone was having a great time at his celebration. “It’s your time now guys,” Cowboy said at dinner referring to the fact that nearly all of us in the house have scheduled fights coming up.

Everyone’s hitting hard in January and feeding off each other’s energy. I am so thankful to Cowboy and Boom Superfoods to be here right now. The Tapout house will be tapping you out in 2010!

When we got back from Vegas I started getting my plan ready for my holiday workouts. Because the altitude here in New Mexico is so high this is a perfect time to push my cardio!! So that is my plan.

Julie told me there was a new girl, Emily Kagan, who just moved out to New Mexico to join Jackson’s female fight team and I should meet her because she is up to the same thing I am in regards to starting a fight career.

She happens to have similar cardio goals for the holidays so we are hitting the hills. Yesterday we went out for a hike in the hills and got back to find our cars jacked. More obstacles! I am hoping that whoever took my stuff is going to give some of it to a sweet young girl for Christmas and she wants to grow up to be a fighter!!

Photo by Tracy Lee - Tami and the Tapout House crew ready for "Cowboy's" big fight.

The good news is my sponsor Boom Superfoods is going to help me replace my stuff!! Thank you Jeff! I really appreciate your support and belief in my dream.

Emily and I are not thwarted from our plan of holiday cardio. We will however be leaving our gear at home. Emily is a vegan and conscious organic eater so I will be happy to share some FOODFIGHT with her this Christmas day! Happy holidays all!

I loved reading about all the behind-the-scenes stuff going on. I had heard about the Steel Panther band. Apparently, they are quite popular among the fighters when in Vegas. Cowboy had a great fight at WEC 45, and for you to be right there in the midst of it all has to be absolutely amazing. This is such a unique experience you are involved in and I thank you for sharing it with us. I know you are looking forward to your next fight, and we can’t wait to see you in action too.

http://www.horsesense.co.il Nikki Kagan

Even as tough as she is (you all are), as Emily’s mom, it was heartwarming to hear how you welcomed her with open arms. Sounds she is joining a wonderful crew out there in Albuquerque and that she’s already made some great friends. Coming to visit her soon, hope to meet you!! (and to learn more about what she’s doing there– I live in Israel, and don’t see her as often as we’d both like…)

http://www.mmamoney.com-resource.us MMA Training

It’s great to see everyone getting along. MMA is like a big family and the world is starting to see it.

About Jack Bratcher

Founder and Editor of Pro MMA Now (www.prommanow.com) and staff writer at ADCC (www.adcombat.com). My all-time favorite TV show is The Sopranos and the first book I ever bought was on Astral Projection. I still occasionally roll around on a skateboard and play Xbox One. Reach me at prommanow@gmail.com or on Twitter at @PROMMA.